Operation Juniper Shield
Operation Juniper Shield,formerly known asOperation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara(OEF-TS), is the military operation conducted by the United States and partner nations in theSaharanandSahelregions of Africa, consisting ofcounterterrorismefforts and policing ofarmsand drug trafficking across central Africa. It is part of the GlobalWar on Terrorism(GWOT). The other OEF mission in Africa isOperation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa(OEF-HOA).
Congressapproved $500 million for theTrans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative(TSCTI) over six years to support countries involved incounterterrorismagainst alleged threats ofal-Qaedaoperating in African countries, primarilyAlgeria,Chad,Mali,Mauritania,Niger,Senegal,Nigeria,andMorocco.[25]This program builds upon the formerPan Sahel Initiative(PSI), which concluded in December 2004[26]and focused onweaponand drug trafficking, as well as counterterrorism.[27]TSCTI has both military and non-military components to it. OEF-TS is the military component of the program. Civil affairs elements includeUSAIDeducational efforts,airport security,Department of the Treasury,andState Departmentefforts.[28]
Canadadeployed teams of less than 15 CSOR members to Mali throughout 2011 to help combat militants in the Sahara.[2]Although the special forces will not engage in combat, they will train the Malian military in basic soldiering. Areas include communications, planning, first aid, and providing aid to the general populace.[2]
Mission[edit]
Operation Enduring Freedom Trans Sahara is primarily a training mission meant to equip 10 nations to combat insurgents in the region.[29]Africa Command states:
OEF-TS is the USG's 3rd priority counter terror effort conducting activities that support TSCTP but are not exclusive to TSCTP. OEF-TS supports TSCTP by forming relationships of peace, security, and cooperation among all Trans Sahara Nations. OEF-TS fosters collaboration and communication among participating countries. Furthermore, OEF-TS strengthens counterterrorism and border security, promotes democratic governance, reinforces bilateral military ties, and enhances development and institution building. U.S. Africa Command, through OEF-TS, provides training, equipment, assistance and advice to partner nation armed forces. This increases their capacity and capability to deny safe haven to terrorists and ultimately defeat extremist and terrorist activities in the region.[29]
At some point in 2013, OEF-TS was redesignated as Operation Juniper Shield.[30]Operation Juniper Shield encompasses American operations across Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.[31]
Training programs[edit]
Flintlock[edit]
Twice a year, the Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program holds a multinational training exercise.[32]Called Flintlocks, these exercises are meant to strengthen special forces from the United States as well as multiple other nations.[32]Participants include troops from the Sahel and those from NATO members.[32]Flintlock started in 1988 and continued through Operation Enduring Freedom, and is now held in Africa.[32]The exercises teach medical operations, infantry and peacekeeping training, airborne operations, humanitarian relief, and leadership skills.[32]The amount each category is stressed depends on the host nation's needs.[32]In addition, participants are put through different scenarios involving skills instructed during the exercise.[33]
Mali was supposed to host the 2012 exercise, but the United States decided to postpone the exercise.[34]Officials say Flintlock was postponed because Mali is facing a renewed Tuareg insurgency.[34]
The Atlas Accord[edit]
Although the Flintlock Exercise was postponed, another training program in Mali was not. The Atlas Accord was created in 2012 to train African military personnel in a number of skills while focusing on logistics.[3]The exercise includes classroom instruction and field instruction.[3]Atlas Accord 12 focused solely on logistics and aerial resupply, while the next exercise in 2013 will continue training in aerial logistics but will also include command, control, communications, and computer (C4) techniques.[3]
African Lion exercise[edit]
The largest training exercise, African Lion, is an annual security cooperation exercise held by the US and Morocco.[35]Created in 2008, this program is designed to instruct a variety of skills, including aerial logistics,non-lethal weaponstraining, combined arms and maneuver exercises.[35]More than 900 Moroccans and 1,200 Americans take part in the two-week exercise.[35]
History[edit]
On 12 September 2007, a USAFC-130was damaged from rifle fire by Tuareg forces while the aircraft was engaged in a supply drop to besieged Malian soldiers, no Americans were wounded in the incident.[36]TheJoint Special Operations Command (JSOC)established the Joint Special Operations Task Force–Trans Sahara (JSOTF-TS)[37]to help combat terrorism in the region. In 2012, the name of Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara transitioned to Operation Juniper Shield, although the operation was still referred to in US Government sources as OEF-TS as late as 2014.[38][39]
ABC Newsreported that US forces arrived in Niger in early 2013 to support theFrench military intervention in Mali;150 US personnel set up a surveillance drone operation over Mali that was conducted out ofNiamey.As of 2017, there were about 800 US troops in Niger, the majority of whom are construction crews working to build up a second drone base in northern Niger. The remainder conduct a surveillance drone mission out of Niamey that helps out the French in Mali and other regional countries in the fight against the terrorists, and less than a hundredUS Army Special Forcessoldiers are also advising and assisting Niger's military to build up their fighting capability to counter the terrorists.[40]CNNreported that following theTongo Tongo ambushin October 2017, which left 4 US soldiers killed, thegovernment of Nigergranted the US military the authority to arm its drones in Niger; the US military had been seeking the authority to arm its drones in Niger for months prior to the ambush.[41]
ABC News also reported that there are 300 U.S. military personnel inBurkina FasoandCamerooncarrying out the same task as US forces in Niger,[40]The Guardianreported that the US military deployed 300 personnel to Cameroon in early October 2015, with the approval of the Cameroonian government, their primary mission was to provide intelligence support to local forces as well as conducting reconnaissance flights,[42]The personnel are also overseeing a program to transfer American military vehicles to the Cameroonian Army to aid in their fight against Islamist militants,[43]Army Timeslater reported that US soldiers in Cameroon are also providing IED awareness training to the country's infantry forces.[44]CNN reported that in May 2016 that US personnel conduct the drone operations fromGarouato help provide intelligence in the region to assist local forces.[45]In 2023,The 2023 Niger couphappens and leads toThe Nigerien crisis.
See also[edit]
- Tuareg Rebellion (2007–2009)
- Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- Islamist insurgency in the Sahel
- 2012 Northern Mali conflict
- List of wars 2003-current
References[edit]
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- ^abcdef"US, Mali Armies Kick off Exercise Atlas Accord; Postpone Exercise Flintlock".Defense Web. 13 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 18 May 2013.Retrieved24 February2012.
- ^"French Hostage Executed after raid on Al-Qaeda base".France 24 news. 26 July 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 10 December 2011.Retrieved13 September2011.
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- ^"Britain Signals Maghreb Push with Anti-Terror Help".Reuters Africa. 18 October 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 12 October 2017.Retrieved1 July2017.
- ^"The Danish effort in the Sahel region (MINUSMA and Operation Barkhane)".fmn.dk.Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2020.Retrieved19 December2020.
- ^Maclean, Ruth; O’Reilly, Finbarr (29 March 2020)."Crisis in the Sahel Becoming France's Forever War".The New York Times– via NYTimes.
- ^Forces, Swedish Armed."Swedish Special Forces to Mali".Försvarsmakten.Retrieved18 November2020.
- ^abComolli (2015),pp. 28, 103, 171.
- ^"Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) / Islamic State in the Sahara (ISS) / Islamic State in Burkina Faso & Mali (ISISBM)".Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2017.Retrieved25 October2017.
- ^Lamothe, Dan (29 December 2014)."Meet Operation Freedom's Sentinel, the Pentagon's new mission in Afghanistan".Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2017.Retrieved16 December2017– via WashingtonPost.
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- ^"Niger Militant with ties to killers of French engineer arrested".ADN Kronos.Archivedfrom the original on 13 November 2011.Retrieved8 November2011.
- ^ab"U.S., Morocco Plans Fifth" African Lion "Exercise".World Tribune. 12 February 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 14 February 2012.Retrieved25 February2012.
- ^"Al Qaeda retreats from West Mali Camps-Military Sources".Reuters Africa. 5 August 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2017.Retrieved1 July2017.
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- ^"Tuaregs Use Qaddafi's Arms for Rebellion in Mali".The New York Times.5 February 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 23 February 2017.Retrieved27 February2017.
- ^"5 Facts About Boko Haram".24/7 Nigeria news update.Archived fromthe originalon 26 February 2012.Retrieved2 March2012.
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- ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 5 October 2018.Retrieved4 October2018.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^abcdef"Flintlock".Global Security.Archivedfrom the original on 18 October 2012.Retrieved24 February2012.
- ^"Flintlock 10 Begins in Burkina Faso".AFRICOM. 4 May 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 28 July 2012.
- ^ab"US Postpones Counter-Terrorism Training Exercises in Mali as Army there Battles Tuareg Rebels".The Washington Post.10 February 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 11 February 2012.Retrieved7 September2017.
- ^abc"African Lion 12 ready to roar: marine forces in Africa conducts final planning conference".DVIDs hub.Archivedfrom the original on 5 March 2014.Retrieved25 February2012.
- ^"Rifle fire strikes U.S. C-130 during airdrop over Mali - News - Stripes".Archivedfrom the original on 5 October 2018.Retrieved4 October2018.
- ^Neville, Leigh,Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military),Osprey Publishing, 2015ISBN978-1472807908,p. 280
- ^"Crisis In Mali"(PDF).3 March 2013. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013.Retrieved16 December2017.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^Pike, John."Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara (OEF-TS) / Operation Juniper Shield".GlobalSecurity.org.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2017.Retrieved16 December2017.
- ^ab"Why US troops are in Niger".ABC News. 19 October 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 25 October 2017.Retrieved25 October2017.
- ^"US military is granted authority to arm its drones in Niger".CNN. 1 December 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 8 December 2017.Retrieved8 December2017.
- ^"Obama to deploy 300 US troops to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram".The Guardian.14 October 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 18 October 2017.Retrieved25 October2017.
- ^"US Sending Troops, Vehicles To Cameroon To Combat Boko Haram".DefenseNews. 20 October 2015.Retrieved25 October2015.
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Sources[edit]
- Comolli, Virginia (2015).Boko Haram: Nigeria's Islamist Insurgency.London:Oxford University Press.
External links[edit]
- Official United States Africa Command site
- Maps of Operation Enduring Freedom
- Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism InitiativeDetails of the operation by Global Security.
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